Tag Archives: Illinois

The field of NASCAR race cars exit turn four to take the green flag during the Geico 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. (9325)

Since the Daytona 500 was supposed to be this past weekend, I thought maybe this would be a fine image for today.

This image was taken at the Chicagoland Speedway’s 2011 Geico 400. The race was rained out on Sunday and pushed to Monday, instead. While pushing the race back a day sucks for pretty much everyone involved, I got lucky because I couldn’t make the original date, but I was able to make the makeup day.

Last night I was given the spectacular opportunity to head up to the Sears Willis Tower’s Skydeck to enjoy the view of Chicago from 103 floors up — and I was strongly encouraged to bring my camera.

The City of Chicago’s Tourism department, Choose Chicago, invites a select few of us to a few functions around the city with infrequent regularity. This week was the Willis Tower, last week was the Shedd Aquarium, last summer was a architectural boat ride up and down the Chicago River.

It’s sort of a win-win-win for everyone, as the city gets all of us tweeting, Facebook-ing and Instagramming images of the city to our followers, they get fresh content to re-tweet to the masses, and (in this case) the Willis Tower Skydeck gets some free advertising.

The group of us who have done these have started to get know each other a bit. We’re quite the motley bunch, but after a few times of seeing each other, numbers are swapped and plans to grab beers are floated. If nothing else, its a fun evening of image-making, and I truly appreciate the opportunity.

Alexander Calder gave his Flamingo sculpture it’s bright red color to be a stark contrast to the dark office buildings surrounding it. In an area defined by gloomy-colored buildings and tight spaces, this piece of art is colorfully loud in a large, open plaza. I’ve been meaning to get some pictures of it for quite some time, and finally made my way down to Chicago’s Federal Plaza.

It really is a wonderful piece, and on the Thursday evening I took this, the entire area was empty except for a very few random folks wandering about. In a city of 2.6 million and an metropolitan area of 9.5 million, it is always fascinating to find myself nearly alone at a (normally) busy intersection.

During the summer I drive past this few several times a week. I’ve always been tempted to stop, but the chain-link fence is such that I didn’t think I could get a picture. This weekend I noticed part of the fence was bent, and I thought perhaps it was big enough to poke a lens through. It wasn’t.

However, I did discover if I carefully place my lens up near the fence — almost uncomfortably close — I can get a shot off without having the fencing appear in the image. And that’s just what I did.

I’ve wanted to shoot around this area in Chicago for quite some time, and last week I finally made it. The shoot turned out better than expected because there are so many fun angles to go after.

From above the Dan Ryan Expressway, the blurred lines of cars racing by help spruce up any image, but then incorporating so many other elements makes it an even more fun area. From entrance ramps to elevated train tracks, there are so many different angles to shoot.

For the first time in awhile I finally got out to snap some images of Chicago.

Having the day off, I planned an entire day around going out for sunset pictures. I specifically wanted to capture the image of boats going down the Chicago River, from on or about the Franklin Street bridge. To my dismay, upon arrival I found the bridge’s sidewalk closed down so there would be no Chicago River pictures for me.

Not wanting to waste a good opportunity, I kept wandering around and found LaSalle Street looking down towards the Chicago Board of Trade Building. It’s an iconic view of Chicago any time of day, and I was happy I head home with a few images I really, really liked.

With the weather finally warming up and my schedule slowing down, I finally got out to take some pictures over the weekend.

I’ve been driving along the Eisenhower Expressway in and out of Chicago and noticed all of the overpasses have tall chain-linked fences flanking each side. Only a few of the bridges have the fencing start a little way in so I could get a camera closer to the middle without shooting through the fence. It’s a picture I’ve wanted to take for awhile, and since I was going to be in the neighborhood around sunset I threw my camera in the car to take some pictures.

Winters in Chicago may get brutal, but they can also be lovely. In the new Maggie Daley Park, within Chicago’s massive Grant Park, is The Ribbon.

The Ribbon is an ice skating loop allowing up to 700 people to glide around under one of the greatest skylines in the world. Yes, we already have a few outdoor rinks in the city, but this design is more like a “lazy river on ice.” Instead of just skating around a never-ending circle, the design is a meandering loop. If someone isn’t the strongest ice skater there are railings on *both* sides to hold onto. Also, doing anything more then just aimlessly circling is nice.

Regardless of the design, more outdoor public spaces to play are never a bad thing.

It’s been pretty cold in Chicago lately — winters are like that — but there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. The dog is starting to lose her winter coat, the “cold” days are in the twenties (versus below zero), and in a matter of days pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.

Before long, we’ll be back to hot summer night, oppressive humidity and garden fresh vegetables. In the meantime, I have pictures like the one above to help me look forward to summer in Chicago.

I have taken numerous pictures of the raised Kinzie Street Railroad bridge, but mostly from the other side (looking back towards where this picture was taken), but on this day I was photographing something else and the whole scene with the Wendella tour boat passing by caught my attention.

There are seemingly an endless possibility of things to photograph in Chicago, and then throw in a spectacular sunrise or sunset, or maybe some crazy fog rolling in, or the Wednesday night “Beer Can Races” in Lake Michigan, and it’s a pretty spectacular place to live.

In my calendar, marked a year ago on this date, the ambient temperature was 16 degrees below zero. The wind chill was 42 degrees below zero. Not surprisingly, both were records in Chicago.

There were a lot of fantastic images captured from the bitterly cold temperatures — none of them by me. It was too cold to venture outside, so I stayed in the house and kept the dog entertained. (Even she was only allowed outside to “take care of business.”)

As brutal as the temperatures were, it was kind of cozy. Sure, it was all hands on deck, and yes the temperature in our house was slowly losing ground to the frigidness outside, but it was still cozy. Day one I did laundry and let the faucets drip. Day two wasn’t as cozy as I was starting to get a little “cabin fever”, so I bundled up and ventured outside to take some pictures.

By the time I made it outdoors, the steam rising from Lake Michigan had settled a bit and the chance for the more dramatic images had passed. Regardless, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.

18th Street, near Canal Street, in Chicago is a great place to park and walk along taking pictures. The Metra Railyard, Chicago River and Ping Tom Park, all within a quarter mile of each other. The evening I took this picture I was planning on heading to Navy Pier right after work. Traffic was brutal so I wasn’t sure if I’d make the sunset, and I really wasn’t interested in paying a bunch of money just to park for an hour or so. 18th Street was my “back-up plan,” and after realizing the two aforementioned issues, 18th Street became my “better plan.”

As luck would have it, the bright orange BNSF locomotive was parked with its lights on and engine running. The brightness of the train would help putting some color into an otherwise darker part of the picture.

I do love the Chicago skyline. It looks pretty damn cool from any angle.

A few months back I wandered down to Soldier Field so some pictures of the stadium during a Bears game. I was going to go last year, but the night I chose was during Winter and close to record-setting cold temperatures, so I stayed home and drank hot tea, instead. So, in August, I wandered down and took some pictures.

For the craziness a stadium of 61,000 can have, it can be relatively quiet in the right place on game day. East of Soldier Field is the lakefront with the bike path and Burnham Harbor. I would think the bike path was quiet because most people who would go out running know it’s a Bears game and turn around when they get close. Sailboats moored in the harbor don’t create a whole lot of noise, either.

Add in the faint roar of the crowd when something exciting happens, and it can be a great place to lay out with a picnic basket. Or a great place to wander around with your camera.

Whether you’re ready or not, the holidays are here. Thanksgiving has come and gone. Hanukkah is fast approaching. Christmas. New Years. Then shortly thereafter the hangover sets it.

Personally, I enjoy the holidays and like how so many difference places decorate. There are videos online of people going “all in” on their houses with lights and music, and then there are places like the Art Institute in Chicago who simply throw a wreath and bow on their lion statues standing out front.

By the way, the title of this post is the name of the picture, “In an Attitude of Defiance.” That is the name of the bronze lion pictured. Both of the statues in front of the Art Institute have unofficial names given to them by their sculpture, Edward Kerneys. The north lion is named “On the Prowl” because he looks like he’s, well, on the prowl. The south lion — pictured above — is named “In an Attitude of Defiance” because he looks as such.

This is a picture I’ve been meaning to take for awhile, it was just a matter of getting out of the house to take it.

Chinatown is a fantastic place to visit while in Chicago. The “touristy” part is actually super-small, only stretching a few blocks down South Wentworth Avenue. The architecture is amazing and some of the restaurants are fantastic. There are also a few shops in the area carrying some hard-to-find things and, of course, a few Chinese medicine shops. Won Kow, designed in 1928, is Chinatown’s oldest restaurant.

With the weather changing in Chicago, I’ve notice my desire of where to take pictures changing. In city views, where “summer weather” is preferred, those are pretty much gone for the season. In pictures like the one above, of traffic blurring along Chicago’s Kennedy Expressway, there really aren’t any trees to make it look like summer or winter. This picture could have been taken in 110-degree temperatures or 10-degree temps. The only real hint is I’m probably not going to venture outside on those bone-chilling winter days.

Last winter, when Chicago was frozen like a popsicle, I did venture out but that was because weather was an anomaly and worth venturing out for. So far, winter has sucked and I haven’t wanted to do much of anything. However, in the next few weeks and months I’ll start to hit some of those “indoor locations” like the Cultural Center, Union Station, a few of Chicago’s spectacular churches and some department stores decked out for the holidays.

Chicago always provides a plethora of opportunities to make some great images. Michigan Avenue is no exception.

Several years ago I worked at the Chicago Cultural Center a few days a week shooting their jazz and classical music concerts. The shows were during lunch and we were out the door a little after one o’clock in the afternoon. Tuesdays I had classes south of the Cultural Center and Wednesdays I didn’t have anywhere to be. I’d always enjoy my walks up or down Michigan Avenue (Tuesdays to class and Wednesday to the train), even in the foul weather months. Michigan Avenue is always alive and well.

I’d stop in the various art galleries, free concerts or public art displays. I got to know every nook and cranny of “Cloud Gate” located in Millennium Park, the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River, and the Old Water Tower near the John Hancock Center. Now, as an adult, I’d love to have the time to regularly stroll up and down Michigan Avenue without racing to get to the next thing.

Sometimes the cloudy days make for crappy sunsets, but those cloudy scenes can still produce some dramatic scenes.

In July I wandered down to Navy Pier in Chicago to shoot the sun setting from their parking deck (it has a pretty decent view back towards the city). As the sun set, the clouds rolled in and things became pretty overcast pretty quickly. After the sun disappeared altogether, I walked around a bit and checked out the view from the boat docking area alongside the pier.

This is always a good place to kill some time watching the world go by with the tourists boats coming and going.

I learned about this hole in the fence via Instagram and went down one evening to see what I could do.

Lately, I’ve really been into skyline pictures with some blurred traffic, and this area did not disappoint. The spot is along Chicago Avenue as the street crosses over highways 90 and 94. I’m not sure why the fence is torn open, but it makes a great place to view the skyline with traffic blurring by below. I particularly like the way the fence “frames” the city and it’s traffic.